Legislative Advocacy
Focus on Advocacy Day, January 17th
Focus on Advocacy Your voice matters! We need your stories, we need your voice, and we need you! PTA’s legacy is strong because of passionate advocates just like you building our legislative platform, one resolution at a time. Join us for Focus on Advocacy Week, January 17-21, 2022, as we share this platform with our…
June Advocacy Update
On June 8, 2021 I attended the All About Advocacy: 2021 Session Wrap Up meeting with the Washington State PTA. The 2021 Session was 105 days long (January 11 – April 25) and the legislature adopted two-year spending plans and tweaked the current fiscal year where needed. There were a lot of new legislators from…
2020 WSPTA Legislative Assembly
The Washington State PTA’s (WSPTA) 2020 Legislative Assembly happened virtually this year due to COVID-19. While it was very different than attending an in-person assembly, I was grateful to still participate as many other state PTA’s just cancelled this year. What is Legislative Assembly? It’s an event where representatives and advocates from school districts in…
July Advocacy Update
I hope everyone is having a great summer! I wanted to share some notes from the 2019 Legislative Session. Here is a link to the FULL report. It’s an easy read and very well organized, outlining legislature that passed as well as did not pass including links to every bill. https://www.wastatepta.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/2019-Legislative-Session-End-of-Session-WSPTA-Final.pdf There is also a…
Advocacy May Update
The legislative session will wrap up at the end of April. The bills associated with school construction and changing bond voting from a super majority to a simple majority have died for this year (e.g., SB 5853 https://app.leg.wa.gov/billsummary?BillNumber=5853&Initiative=false&Year=2019 ). Two bills addressing the teacher shortage are making better progress. SHB 1621, which would allow the…
March Advocacy Update
The February snowstorms not only shut down schools, it also shut down a number of events and business Washington State Legislature, including Focus Day 2019. WSPTA Focus Day was supposed to be when PTA Advocacy representatives from around the state were to meet with their legislators and talk about the PTA Legislative platform issues. (Thank…
PTSA Advocacy Update
With the 2018 election over, it’s a good time to update and review lawmakers who represent residents living within Stillwater Elementary School boundaries, and thus influence education policies and funding for our school. Stillwater draws students from the city of Duvall as well as unincorporated Carnation and Duvall, which comprise the fifth and forty-fifth Washington…
Legislative Assembly Update
Written by Roslyn Reeps, please send any questions to advocate@stillwaterptsa.org Washington State PTA has been a leading voice for children in Washington for more than 112 years, advocating for the health, safety, well-being and education for every child. I was able to join with over 230 other members from around the state to continue this…
Joint Select Committee on Article IX Litigation
Last legislative session, the Joint Select Committee on Article IX Litigation unanimously approved a report to the Supreme Court describing the 2018 session’s accomplishments towards meeting the McCleary lawsuit. Two major elements of the 16-page report include expediting educator salaries to the 2018-19 school year and establishing a $105 million “penalty account,” which is the…
Education Funding Changes Signed into Law
In March of last year, Governor Inslee signed E2SSB 6362, the “fixes” to last session’s EHB 2242 on education funding. This law: Moves salaries to the 2018-19 school year for CIS, CLS, and CAS, as defined in the budget. (Section 202; For 2018-19 school year, the budget would increase the statewide minimum salary allocation to…